look - find lines in a sorted list
look [
-dfnixtc ] [
string ] [
file ]
Look consults a sorted
file and prints all lines that begin with
string. It uses binary search.
The following options are recognized. Options
dfnt affect comparisons as
in
sort(1).
- -i
- Interactive. There is no string argument; instead
look takes lines from the standard input as strings to be looked
up.
- -x
- Exact. Print only lines of the file whose key matches
string exactly.
- -d
- `Directory' order: only letters, digits, tabs and blanks
participate in comparisons.
- -f
- Fold. Upper case letters compare equal to lower case.
- -n
- Numeric comparison with initial string of digits, optional
minus sign, and optional decimal point.
-
-t[c]
- Character c terminates the sort key in the
file. By default, tab terminates the key. If c is missing
the entire line comprises the key.
If no
file is specified,
/lib/words is assumed, with collating
sequence
df.
/lib/words
/src/cmd/look.c
sort(1),
grep(1)
The exit status is ``
not found'' if no match is found, and ``
no
dictionary'' if
file or the default dictionary cannot be
opened.